Feedback on new cover please

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Let's see. What about...phhhllbbffftttt (now you see the great mind of font genius, at work...HA!)...Lucyville, for the title? Or if you're feeling brave, how about Wicked Mouse? Wicked Mouse might be too fat, for the title, but Lucyville is "light" enough (for a whacky font) that it might fit. I don't car for what you have now, because it doesn't say whacky, it says "Comic Sans Ripoff" which means, to me, either kids' books or someone who doesn't understand that CS shouldn't be used for 99.99% of all stuff.

Or...what about Filosofia Unicase?
https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/emigre...ot/unicase-ot/ . that's one you won't see very often, but it combines a slightly offbeat tone with nice typography. (My not-so-inner font geek might be showing up. Not everyone necessarily would notice this font.)

Do any of those appeal to you, at all? It would help me, in narrowing stuff down, if you had warm/cold reactions to any of them.

Oh, and last but not least, I would be remiss, given the TONE of the cover, not to mention Adventure, by PixelSaga. I would seriously do a mockup, using Adventure, and see if it gets you where you are going. Even if you only use it for RISE, and use something similar-but-lighter for the rest (like, SF Comic Script?), it's worth a shot to see if you can make it work. ETA: (or, Mona Shark????)

Once we know what we're doing with the title, which is the most-important text, then we can tackle the byline. I'm likely to suggest a nice, simple, traditional font for that--a sans, maybe, but let's sort out the title, first.

Hitch

Thanks Hitch. You got me searching through those fonts. They were all cool. I liked Lucy the best but didn't like the dotted i's on the caps. The "Adventure" reminded me too much of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Searching around I found these two that I liked. (I just put them in there without all the clutter so you could see them better.)
#1



#2

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Catlady, I have no idea what I'm doing. I envision every book going on as part of the IWS Rules and yet Lainey Tripper is the protagonist and will be in every novel. And excellent question about not being able to have a series without knowing the organization's name. I may not be able to. I don't know. Thanks.

Let me think on it.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Catlady, I have no idea what I'm doing. I envision every book going on as part of the IWS Rules and yet Lainey Tripper is the protagonist and will be in every novel. And excellent question about not being able to have a series without knowing the organization's name. I may not be able to. I don't know. Thanks.

How about the International Woof Society?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

and yet Lainey Tripper is the protagonist and will be in every novel.

Then how about "The First Lainey Tripper Adventure"?

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Thanks Hitch. You got me searching through those fonts. They were all cool. I liked Lucy the best but didn't like the dotted i's on the caps. The "Adventure" reminded me too much of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Searching around I found these two that I liked. (I just put them in there without all the clutter so you could see them better.)

Well, yes, Adventure DOES look like the old movie-serial/Raiders-type font. That's the whole point. It's supposed to invoke that same feeling, but, given the images on the cover, it won't be misconstrued as being that same genre. It would have clearly conveyed the wink-wink-nod-nod nature of it.

#1

No. This has some similarities to the fonts that I recommended that very deliberately channel that Superman/Raiders look, but it's more goofy than I intended. I didn't recommend Adventure, or Mona Shark or SF Comic Script accidentally, or to look goofy-ish. Given that Laney is an Animal Rescue "superhero," as indicated by the cape and the very Superman-stance, it seemed appropriate to me to use Adventure or Mona Shark or SF comic Script, quite deliberately--to carry the look/feel of the artwork through to the font.

#2

This is simply bad, don't use that.

I guess we are definitely NOT seeing the cover in the same way. I was leaning more somewhat-humorous-tongue-in-cheek while you seem to be looking at it as a far more ditzy or silly book & cover. If you're going for more goofy, then really, any font is fine.

Hitch

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Thanks ducks. I tried doing that but it was just even with that, it was just too busy. Instead I lowered the grass. Here's what I came up with.

YES! readable

[Dr. Drib]

You forgot to put the pooper-scooper in her hand.

Raise it high around the letters in a salute and to give some balance to her left [cape] arm. *


* = After all, someone is always cleaning up some kind of mess, especially if one owns a dog.

[JSWolf]

The pink is still ugly and the green for the title is the wrong color. But what to change the title color to depends on the background. The other problem is her cape is blowing for no reason. Try a sky blue with clouds to give the illusion of wind.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The pink is still ugly and the green for the title is the wrong color. But what to change the title color to depends on the background. The other problem is her cape is blowing for no reason. Try a sky blue with clouds to give the illusion of wind.

What you can't see, off-cover, is the fan. (It's on the back. Remember those old wrap-around covers?)

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The pink is still ugly and the green for the title is the wrong color. But what to change the title color to depends on the background. The other problem is her cape is blowing for no reason. Try a sky blue with clouds to give the illusion of wind.

I agree about the colors and the blowing cape. I'd rather see a cape just draped from her shoulders and over her arms--as in this photo.

ETA: In addition to the incongruity of the cape being the only thing in the image affected by wind, it also unbalances the cover--too much weight on the right side; even the largest dogs are already on the right side.

[pdurrant]

How about something like this for the title/series

[BookCat]

The pink is wrong for a book which tongue-in-cheek satirises feminism. It also limits your market to women (and maybe gay men).

I don't understand your comment:

And the feel I'm after is for a wacky over-the-top read. I don't want people reading it and then reviewing it as a wacky over-the-top read.

Surely that's EXACTLY the type of review you want. You don't want it reviewed as a Mills and Boon romance when your aim is wacky humour. Why would you be disappointed by a review which saw your book exactly the same way you do?

I think the poop-scoop in her right hand (our left) would be great. Americans would see this as a nod to the Statue of Liberty.

As for the font, maybe a bold version of Tempus Sans.

I can't help feeling that you really need to suss what IWS stands for. If you're serious about a cat follow-up, try not to make it species specific - you could write the series making each book relating to a different species, even getting into animal activism.

[Catlady]

I prefer the original colors to current version, especially the orange, since it pops. Or else a simple blue background, representing sky. I think I also like the suggestion of buildings in the original, assuming the book is actually set in a city, and depending on the final positioning of the text.

[BookCat]

pdurrant: I like yours, but maybe without the pink. Unless the pink is ironic.

We cross posted.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by BookCat

The pink is wrong for a book which tongue-in-cheek satirises feminism. It also limits your market to women (and maybe gay men).

I don't understand your comment:



Surely that's EXACTLY the type of review you want. You don't want it reviewed as a Mills and Boon romance when your aim is wacky humour. Why would you be disappointed by a review which saw your book exactly the same way you do?

I certainly don't understand that comment, at ALL. If you've written an "over-the-top whacky read," then...why would you NOT want people to review it that way? Do you want them to review it as if it's a Michener? Or...???

Moreover, that's not how you've pitched the book, here. There's a VAST difference between, for example, Red Skelton's humor and Quentin Tarantino's. Or watching Lucy stuff her mouth full of chocolates, versus watching Travolta accidentally shoot the guy in the car (PF), or revive Uma Thurman with a hypodermic to the heart. Is this "I Love Lucy," or is it something less slapstick-y?

The feel you're projecting, with the goofy fonts, is at best "I Love Lucy." But you pitched it as more of a humorous, black-humor actioner. Which is it? I honestly don't see ILL running around whacking people.

I think the poop-scoop in her right hand (our left) would be great. Americans would see this as a nod to the Statue of Liberty.

Agreed.

As for the font, maybe a bold version of Tempus Sans.

I'm sorry to disagree with BookCat, but please, Mother of All that's Holy, do NOT use Papyrus or a Papyrus knockoff. It's become the Comic Sans of the last 10 years, and it's horribly and grossly overused, even worse. (I blame James Cameron, but...). Anyone in the biz who sees Papyrus on your cover (or "Tempus Sans") will run like there's no tomorrow. And not TO the book. (Sorry, @BookCat!).

I can't help feeling that you really need to suss what IWS stands for. If you're serious about a cat follow-up, try not to make it species specific - you could write the series making each book relating to a different species, even getting into animal activism.

I agree with this, and more importantly, you're completely missing a huge opportunity for more "humor." You could have a blast with acronyms, for the Society. You can do things like:

ARF: Animal Rescue Feminists
BARF: Brave Animal Rescue Feminists
WARM: Women Animal Rescue Feminists
ROAR: Rescue Animal Operational Revolt
...and so on.

Why on earth would you pass up the opportunity for branding like that? I damn sure wouldn't. How did you come up with "IWS," which isn't even a word, sans an idea of the name of the group?


Hitch